It's Just a Game
by ShelbyCole
Summary: When a new girl and her father come to Konoha to help rebuild, nobody knows what to expect. But this girl is different...and Sasuke is left knowing that all she see's in him is just a game...even if he wants more. Rated T for later chapters, just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**_Its Just a Game_**

**This is just a story that I made up on a hunch. I've wanted to use this storyline for a while in an original, but have yet to develop my original characters, so I decided to develop my storyline with this. Naruto and the Naruto characters do not belong to me, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The storyline, however, is completely mine and nobody else's, and I'll eventually use this storyline in an original, so COPY ME AND I'LL SUE YOUR EYES OUT! Thanks!**

Chapter One

The Chunin and Jounin teams that filled Tsunade's conference room sat in hushed silence, team by team, listening intently for their Hokage to give them the details on this pressing news. By now, buzz had spread across Konoha of a visitor coming through, but this visitor has varied from person to person. At one point this person was the Kage of an enemy village coming to make peace with Konoha, another they were beautiful women coming to visit that needed tour guides (Obviously Jariaya's daydream of a visitor), and now, now, they were finally getting the right information. Who was this person? Where are they coming from? What were they coming for? Were they for good or bad purposes?

"As I know you've all been wondering," Tsunade said in a demanding tone, calling the conference to order, "who this new visitor is."

"Well, Grandma-Tsunade, who is it?" Naruto piped in, his orange head instantaneously being hit, keeping him in a sitting position on the floor.

A unison whisper from the three other people on his team came across, "Shut up!" Tsunade smirked and carried on her business as though he hadn't spoken.

"As you are all aware, since Orochimaru and his goons invaded, our village has collapsed considerably."

A dull roar of whispers of teams among themselves filled the room. Tsunade continued talking as though they hadn't even opened their mouths.

"The food and farming has decreased greatly, leaving little for our village to eat, considering the lack of farmland due to the destruction. The people coming are a father and daughter. This farmer is one of the best in the world; he'll come to help the farmers here clear the land and replant their farms. Their daughter is a Jounin, fifteen years old, and she works horses. I've gotten several horses for the Jounins, and she'll be working with these horses to train them for missions. She will also be training the Jounins on how to work with these horses."

"How will two hicks help Konoha's reconstruction any?" Sasuke's overly cocky voice radiated through.

The vein in Tsunade's forehead throbbed, "These two are anything but hicks, Sasuke. I am a personal friend of the father, Koriama He is a great man, who works harder than you'll ever know for what he has. His daughter, Kaiya, is just like him. And I think that you'll be quite surprised at them, as well. You'll see, soon enough."

"Why do we need horses as ninja?" Anko yelled up to the Hokage.

"Kaiya is the top ninja of her class, in all the places they've gone. She doesn't have a ninja team; she has her horse. She's a certified medic nin, for ninja as well as horses. Her horse is her partner, and they've never lost a fight in her time as a ninja."

"In her time as a ninja?" someone else asked.

"She's no longer working as a ninja. Kaiya and her father are very close, and she's had some close calls, personally. I'm not at honor to dispose of those; you'll have to ask them yourselves. But that horse is her best friend, and the last thing it would ever do it let her die before it did. I've become close with her and her horse as well. It's truly amazing what they can do together. You'll see, you'll see."

"When are they coming?"

"They should be coming any minute. They've scheduled to be here by late this evening or early tomorrow morning."

The dull roar from the teams' whispers among themselves filled the room. Tsunade cleared her throat for one final word.

"If you're all finished with your questions, I will close this meeting. I expect no less than absolute respect toward Kaiya and Koriama from any of you. Meeting dismissed."

All the ninja poofed out of the room and onto the street outside of the Hokage's building. Most of the teams split in their own directions, either dismissing their training for the day of giving last minute words to the Chunin teams as direction for their impressions of the new visitors.

"You all should know by now that the Hokage respects these visitors, which means that if you mess with them, she'll mess you up. So I'd suggest you guys don't act like idiots around these new people," Kakashi said in his usual monotonous voice from behind his little orange book.

"Is it possible to just avoid the two hicks like the plague and not worry about it?" Sasuke asked in his all-to-cocky tone.

"Sasuke, why are you so rude? They haven't even shown up yet and you're already being mean to them!" Bushy Brows piped in, interrupting Team 7's not-so-conversation.

"Why should we want them here?" Sasuke asked again, monotonous still.

Glitter glistened in the green latex-clad ninja's eyes at getting a response from the infamous Sasuke Uchiha, "Sasuke, you always think you're better than everyone else. I, for one, think that these people will show you up. Gai-Sensei says he's heard of Kaiya and Koriama, and that they're extremely strong, and that Kaiya is extremely beautiful. And, as the green beast of Konoha, I shall be the one to sweep her off her feet and she shall be mine!"

"Look, we don't know who they are, so why judge them before they get here?" Sakura's logical voice came in.

Kakashi's monotonous voice called them to attention, "Listen…"

The gates to Konoha were close to the Hokage building, and the crowd of teams gathered closer to it.

_Thump…thump…thumpthumpthumpthump! _

"Ho, pretty boy. Ease up," a small but definitely commanding female voice said. The thumping that was closer to the gate had stopped, but there was still thumping coming from farther away.

Thump…thump…thump..thump..thump…thump!

"Kaiya, I don't know how you can ride so fast. It's killing me," a steady, easy male voice said.

The female voice did not reply, though everyone that had heard it knew that they were speaking. No one could help but be excited and a bit bewildered at the new visitors, and finally they were about to see who they were! Maybe they were just two country hicks, maybe they weren't, maybe….

Then the gates opened. The man came through first; a tall man, skinnier in build, but had muscle, who wore a green cap. He rode through on a grey horse that was tall and lanky, which made the man look bigger and his farmer's tan look darker. The girl came out behind him. She was wearing a navy blue kimono that had a light pink flower on the side, with light pink shorts. Her shoulder blade length black hair flew back in the wind as her short, bulky, red horse came through the gate in a run to the back of the grey horse.

The girl was long and skinny, but had muscle that showed in her legs. She had a tan, but it wasn't a farmer's tan. Her dragonfly necklace was a bit off, being as how it was pink and purple, but it stood out against her skin. She was beautiful, but kept herself right behind the man, almost as though shyly.

Tsunade walked out of the crowd of people, whom no one had even realized had been there. Both the girl and the man got off of their horses and bowed to the Hokage. Then the horses followed suit and bowed! The crowd of people created a dull roar again, watching the horses bow. It lasted only a moment, because they came up just as the man and girl did to stand in front of the same respect-demanding woman. Words were exchanged between the man and the Hokage, before Tsunade turned to the girl to give a word, and the girl smiled and gave a few words back. The man put his hand on the girl's shoulder and went back to speaking quietly with the Hokage. Tsunade then called out to the crowd.

"Everyone, this is Koriama and Kaiya Kaniwa. They will be helping the village get back on its feet in the farming industry, and Kaiya will be working with the horses and the Jounins that will be training on them."

The crowd bowed in respect to the new visitors, and the two visitors, plus their horses, bowed back. This caused another dull roar of amusement from the crowd. The girl, Kaiya, turned to the Hokage with a look of almost confusion, and the Hokage whispered something to her that made her laugh. The laugh was so pure and sweet, it made all the men stop.

The man looked at his daughter and gave her some sort of direction. She jumped onto the back of her horse, stood up, and put one foot on the grey horse, the other on the red horse, and gave a clicking noise. The horses started up and took off, the girl still standing on their backs. The crowd watched the girl as she directed the horses to turn down a street to head towards the Hokage's stables that sat in the pastures on the outskirts of Konoha. She ran, uncaring, until she knew that she was out of the eyes of the crowd that had been watching her. She then sat back on her red horse and pulled the grey horse behind her by the reins. She ran straight and then she saw the white picket fence that led to the stables. She let the grey horse go and kicked the red horse. The horse took off, with the grey one right behind it, and both horses jumped the fence.

She grabbed the grey horse's reins once again and led them both into the barn. Coming off of her horse, she tied them to notches in the barn wall and looked around. The horses in the stalls were of all different colors, but she could see things about them that almost gave them away to their owners. Whether anyone else was aware of it; Kaiya was a very watchful girl. The horse in the second stall on the right was a tall, black horse with a white blaze down her face, with red eyes. That horse had to have belonged to the woman that was in the crowd; the one with long, wavy black hair, red eyes, and red lips. Oh yes, she paid attention. She looked across the stalls, studying the horses, as she unsaddled her horses and put the saddles in the tack room that was down past all stalls on the far left corner of the barn. On the end of the barn by the tack room was a large white metal gate that led out into a connecting pasture. The pasture had nothing in it, but had large molasses tubs that held water in each corner. This, she knew, was the horse pasture. The cattle pastures connected to that pasture, separated by barbed wire.

Once the horses were unsaddled, Kaiya took a rope halter from the tack room and took of the red horse's bridle and put the halter on his head. Tying the rope halter to the notch where she'd previously tied the bridle, she put the bridle on the hook where the rope halter had been placed in the tack room and pulled out the brush from a small blue bucket in the close right corner underneath another unused hook. She brushed out the horse, who had a large sweat stain in his hair where the saddle had been, and a band of sweat where the brow band had been above his eyes. He'd had a long run and was obviously tired, so she brushed him down well, filled the large tub in the corner of the empty stall next to the black horse with water, and led him into it. She then took one of the buckets from the back of the tack room and put some feed into it. She put it in the stall and rubbed the horse's head as it ate.

"You've had a good run today, Chipper Doc. You've earned your keep."

By this point, her grey horse was getting antsy, so she did the same with it, petting it on the head before she left and saying, "You did well, Smoke."

Just as she was leaving, a boy came up. He looked about the same age as she was, and had a small dog that walked alongside him. Kaiya looked his way, but said nothing. She went to the water spout that the water hose was connected to and washed her hands, which had been sweaty and hard worked. She wiped the water off on her shorts and pulled her hair up into a ponytail with a pink ribbon that had been tied around her wrist. The boy came through and didn't say anything; he just walked into the stables like he owned the place and looked around at the horses.

"Can I help you?" She said, turning to the boy as he reached out to pet Smoke on the head.

"Oh, hi! I'm sorry, I didn't even see you there. You're the Kaiya girl, right?" the boy asked as his dog crawled into Smoke's stall and sniffed at his leg.

She jumped over the door to Smoke's stall and grabbed the dog, just as the horse lifted his foot to stomp it. She used her shoulder to push against the horse's leg, tilting him off balance and making him take a side step.

"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to blow you off like that. But I didn't want your dog to get stomped on. I haven't trained him to work with dogs yet."

The dog walked over aimlessly to Chipper Doc's stall and crawled underneath the door to it as though the first time wasn't enough. The boy gasped in fear that his dog would get stomped again, and almost jumped over the gate to get it, but Kaiya pulled him off.

"That's my boy. He's trained to dogs."

The little dog sniffed at Chipper Doc's leg, and then licked him. The horse turned his big ole head around and sniffs the dog back.

"I'm Kiba; nice to meet you," the boy said. "Sorry about my dog. He's not used to horses either."

"No problem. I'm Kaiya."

"Where did you move from?"

"We move from place to place. I'm originally from the Mist village, but Daddy made us move after all the things that happened there after I started going on missions as a Jounin."

Kiba gave a confused look.

"In my two year Jounin career in the Mist village, my horse has been my only teammate. So, in a sense, I've been a bit more vulnerable. Daddy didn't like that, and forced my retirement from full-time ninja business."

"Jeez, I never would have thought a dad would do that. I mean, nobody could stop me from being a ninja!"

"My daddy and I are really close. He's just looking out for me. And plus, I love this. I love working with horses, and teaching people on them. It's just so cool."

"You seem really into this sort of thing. Why did you seem so scared when you came through the gate earlier today?" Kiba asked.

"I don't like crowds. I'm not much of a public speaker."

"Ha," Kiba said, leaning over to pet Chipper Doc on the head, "they all thought you two would be hicks."

"I've gotten that before. I'm surprising, not surprised."

Kiba looked somewhat surprised at this line.

"Hey, Kiba?"

"Yeah?"

"You know the people here way better than me. Who's the woman that lives here with the long wavy black hair and red eyes?"

A look of astonishment crossed his face, "Kurenai- Sensei? She's a jounin here, and my team's sensei. Why do you ask?"

"Is she on the list to be trained to a horse?"

"I think so. Why?"

"This one is her's," she said, pointing to the black horse with red eyes.

"How can you tell?" he asked.

"Pets and people share a bond…my horse and I share a bond too. The red horse, Chipper Doc, is mine, not the grey one. The grey one is Daddy's. But me and Chipper Doc work so well together, I can fall asleep on him, and he knows if anything is wrong and protects me before I even know I'm in danger. He's saved me in my sleep from an Akatsuki member before. If you don't have that bond with an animal that you're working with, then it's no use to have them around….hey, what do you guys do for fun around here anyways?"

"What do you mean?" Kiba said, a mischievous look in his eyes.

"I mean fun! My life isn't all work and no play. What's there to do that's fun around here?"

"Usually we all just hang out in our own teams. Sometimes we'll get together for something with more than just our team, but our teammates are our best friends, so we do a lot of stuff together."

Kaiya's eyes showed that she was downcast. It wasn't the first, and she knew it wouldn't be the last time in her lifetime that she would feel this way. But Kiba saw it and caught himself.

"I didn't mean it like that! My team would love you….you're not afraid of bugs, are you?"

"Bugs, no. If you get a mouse near me though, I'll freak out."

Kiba laughed, and the puppy crawled out of Chipper Doc's stall and jumped into his arms, "I'll remember that. But there aren't any mice around my team. Just bugs."

"Ok, I can deal with that. What's your team like?"

"C'mon, I'll take you to meet them. You can walk, Akamaru," he said, putting the dog on the ground.

Kiba grabbed her hand and took off the way he'd come earlier that afternoon.

_Ha, I got to her first, Sasuke has no chance…_Kiba thought as he ran faster to keep up with the girl's long legs running beside him. _She was a ninja alright; I wonder how many Mist ninja tried to get at her while she was there….They had to have tried to do something; otherwise her dad would have no complaints._

They ran together that way until they came upon the streets of Konoha, Kiba still leading her by the hand. She didn't think anything of it, really. Worse had been done, and Kiba seemed cool enough. That is, until something that resembled a booger in a blender came flying up.

"**KIBA!!" **This furious green thing yelled. **"I TOLD YOU I WOULD BE THE FIRST TO COURT HER!!"**

As it came down the street, she whispered to Kiba, "What is that thing, and did it just say it wanted to court me?"

Kiba looked at her nonchalantly and replied, "It's Lee, a ninja here. Yeah, he dresses horribly, but he's ok enough. He's desperate; he'd date a rock if it had hair. You were a huge opportunity for him to get a girl. But nobody knew what you looked like; he's got no chance now."

She wrinkled her nose in disapproval, "What do you mean by that? No one knew what I looked like?"

"Everybody thought you'd be a hick, you know, bum. But now that they've seen you, jeez, you're gorgeous. Lee has no chance. Everybody's going to want you."

"By the looks of him, he's never had a chance."

The green beast stopped about six inches from her face, took a step back and bowed, "Lady Kaiya Kaniwa, I am Lee, the Green Beast of Konoha! It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Umm…that's nice…Lee…nice to meet you as well."

The bushy eyed boy gave a goofy smile and a thumbs up.

"Lady Kaiya, I know that you're unaware of the places here, and I would be much obliged to show you around…that is, if you'd like."

"I'd much appreciate it Lee, but you see, Kiba has already offered me a tour of Konoha, so I guess I'll just have to see you around, ok?" Kaiya said, looking to Kiba for some form of support in the matter.

"She's with me, Bushy Brows. Leave it."

Fire raged in the green spandex-laden lad, but was soon washed out with the essence of defeat.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Lady Kaniwa. I'm sure I will see you again soon."

The boy bowed once more and walked off, much more slowly than he had before, when he was coming up to the girl.

"Jeez…"Kaiya murmured.

"That's Lee for you. C'mon, I'll introduce you to my team."

"Alright. Hey, are you Jounin or what?"

"Nah, I'm a Chuunin, just passed the exams. Orochimaru destroyed everything during the middle of the last phase of the them. That's what you guys are here for, isn't it? To help us get our crops going back again?"

She nodded pleasantly, "That's right. I got the basic information, but I didn't know who was in the exams. That's cool though; I never find any Jounin my age anyhow."

As they walked along the streets, the pleasant conversation continued until they had come upon the two people that were Kiba's teammates- A shy girl with purple hair, Hinata, and a boy with a high collar jacket and sunglasses that worked with the bugs, Shino.

As Kiba introduced them, Kaiya was pleasantly surprised at the easy acceptance from the two. She knew they must not be the most popular people in Konoha, just because of their sweet, quiet nature, but that was just fine with her; she never did really like hanging out with popular people. They were always so cocky and rude, but they all liked her plenty, as arm candy. Kaiya _hated _that, but she didn't feel like she was being used as anything at the moment. She'd become so comfortable, however, that she hadn't even realized that Kiba was still holding on to her hand.



The next day, Kaiya was up early. The Hokage had given her one day off to recover from the long ride to Konoha, and she took advantage of it to get some peace in the early morning to explore the village.

"Kaiya," her father had said that morning.

"Yeah, Daddy?"

"You made friends yesterday, didn't you? I saw you with a couple of people yesterday afternoon."

"Yeah, I did. They're cool. Kiba, the one with the dog, came up to the stables when I was getting the horses unsaddled. He introduced me to the other two, Hinata and Shino, his teammates."

"Good. I don't want you running off at night by yourself, you know that right?"

"Yes, Daddy, I know. But it's like six in the morning. Why are you worried about nighttime right now?"

"I'm just making sure you know, that's all."

Her eyes flickered with sadness for a moment as she said, "I know."

"Good. Go out and have fun. Work starts tomorrow; best get your fun out today."

"Yeah," she said, smiling, the sadness completely forgotten. She kissed Koriama on the cheek as she walked out the door. "Bye Daddy."

She walked out the door, looking at all the shops and stores just beginning to open, with sleepy-eyed people opening up shop. She walked down the streets that were mostly vacant, looking at the names of the stores and in the windows to see where she'd need to later on.

She'd taken care to dress nicely today, since she would most likely be absolutely disgusting after working with the horses after today. She wore a navy blue summer dress that came down to her ankles, but had a slit up to her thigh, with a hat that had a navy ribbon on it. Her high heels clicked up and down the street, as she looked through everything with interest and enjoyed the cool, moist morning air that only came in the mornings before the sun rose completely. The strong smell of flowers carried over to her, and she took it in with everything.

After about an hour of walking through the streets, she walked into the park to check things out there. She took her time, enjoying the light coming up, and the trees that stood so tall and looked so at peace with everything. A breeze flowed through, and she tilted her head slightly to get the wind in her face. She enjoyed it for a moment, but her hat flew off, bringing her back to reality. She spun on her heel quickly and was about to run after her hat, when someone came up, carrying it back to her.

"Is this yours?" the boy asked.

"Yes! Thank you for getting it. I'd hate to lose it," Kaiya smiled in appreciation.

"Hn, no problem. You're that Kaiya girl, right?"

"Yep, that's me."

"I'm Sasuke."

"Well, thank you, Sasuke. I don't know how to repay you."

He smirked in her direction, but the moment was kicked out from underneath them when a huge group of girls came running in their direction screaming, "SASUKE!!"

"Do you really want to repay me?" he asked.

She gave a mischievous look and said, "Sure."

Sasuke grabbed her hand. The girls stopped abruptly, all with the same expression of shock. They kept yelling, "SASUKE!!"

"Do you still want to repay me?"

She laughed, "Sure."

"This means nothing, alright?" he whispered in her ear.

She nodded and whispered back, "It's just like a game. But later when they're all over me and they think we're dating, I'm denying it."

"Good."

He leaned in to her and kissed her a bit forcefully. She shut her eyes and let him do what he wanted; it was just a game, after all. He put his arms around her waist, and she followed suit, putting her arms around his neck.

_Hn, good kisser_…Sasuke thought, asking for entrance into her mouth.

_What the heck? Nobody's going to know if he did__** that**__ or not_…she thought, refusing his request.

The kiss broke off, and Sasuke came back for one more, which she only obliged with a ghostly, gentle little kiss. Her petal soft lips broke from him and their hands removed from each other. The crowd of girls was completely gone.

"HA!" Kaiya laughed.

"Hn," Sasuke smirked.

"Well, Sasuke dear, it looks as though we're even now. I guess I'll catch you later, ok?"

"Yeah, later."

And as Kaiya walked off, Sasuke couldn't help but think about that kiss. She was good at that, and he wanted more. He knew then that he was going to get her. But, at least in her mind, it was just a game…

**I know that this a probably OOC like crazy, but I haven't watched Naruto in forever and need to practice more. It will get better, I promise. Reviews/Comments/whatever is great. NO HATE MAIL! Thanks muchly!**

**ShelbyCole**


	2. Chapter 2

bChapter Two after all this time

bChapter Two after all this time! Sorry for the wait, I've been really busy. Well, now it's time to continue on then! The Naruto characters and whatnot are not mine, but the plotline and everything else IS! So be nice and no stealing!/b

CHAPTER TWO

Kaiya continued on her walk through Konoha, watching the early morning sun remove the dewdrops from the grass, and the growing village come to life as the sun moved higher into the sky. As the bustling shops were now open, she looked for a place that she could eat. Finding a small, quiet restaurant not far from the park, she sat, ordering tea and a rice cake. She relaxed as she sat before a small table, the rice cake in front of her, with the hot tea in her hands. She had placed her hat on side of the table opposite her, revealing her long, silky black hair, tied in a half ponytail. Sipping at her tea, she sighed; it would be a good day. She still had to go feed the horses before she set out for the exploration of the village that she was setting herself up for, but that in itself wasn't a chore. Everything else for the day was set to learning where, and whom, she could associate herself.

It was then that a tall man with silver hair that seemed to defy gravity entered the tea shop. He ordered the same as she, except double the rice cakes. His mask was above half his face, which gave her an eerie sense of him, but the relaxed atmosphere as he walked in and chatted nonchalantly with the cashier as he ordered seemed to calm her. He walked in a non-threatening manner, taking the table beside her to sit and read his little orange book. She knew the book's genre, but thought nothing of it. Every book had it's readers. She took in everything; just as her Daddy had told her before they headed for this village or any other- Know your friends, learn your enemies.

The relaxed atmosphere of the tea shop gave her reason to relax a bit, seeing as the man was now so enraptured in his hentai novel that he didn't even seem to notice her sitting in the table right beside him. She sipped at her tea, letting the hot liquid ease itself down her throat. She judged the way to handle every possible situation, but for the ones Daddy worried about, she was always prepared. This time though, she wasn't worried about Daddy's rule; the air was just too calm.

"So you're Kaiya Kaniwa; the one we've all heard about," the man said, shifting the one visible eye to her without moving his head.

"Hai, and you are?"

"Hatake Kakashi."

She gave a smirk at that, "The copycat ninja. Daddy's told me much about you."

He gave a slightly surprised look, as far as she could see, from behind his mask, "Oh really? So Koriama hasn't forgotten me, has he?"

"Of course not."

She spoke in a dark, soothing manner that complimented the sweet calmness in the small tea shop.

"Why aren't you a ninja, Kaiya? They all thought you would be, seeing you with that sword so young."

"Things happen; I still have my sword, I just don't go looking for a fight."

"Do you remember me, Kaiya?"

"From then? A little. I remember a few key things, but I was very small the last time I saw you, Hatake-san."

"It seems a waste to have worked so hard to be a ninja if you aren't willing to use it."

The words stung, just like all the other words she'd heard before. He thought she had just given it up, finding something better, like a child with a new toy.

"If you'd like to argue that point, you can argue it with Daddy. Things happen, Hatake-san, life happens."

"Hn," Kakashi sighed, as Kaiya sipped at her tea.

"I didn't give it up; it was taken from me."

Kakashi gave a confused look, as the girl nibbled at the rice cake in front of her.

"I'm not some little child with a better toy to play with. I loved being a ninja; I would do it again in a heartbeat, if I was able. But I'm not. So I won't, and don't," she said.

Her heart hurt; she already wanted him to leave her alone. He had never raised his voice to her, here or before, but he knew just what to say to hurt her more than any sword.

"You seem able."

"Daddy doesn't see me as able."

At this Kakashi was very surprised; he had known Koriama for all of his twenty eight years, and knew that he had always been excessively proud of his daughter for becoming such an accomplished ninja. Why in the world would he stop her now? She was at her best; there was no reason to doubt her abilities now!

"I wouldn't believe that your father would make you retire from being a ninja."

She sighed, "I'm not here to argue over a point with you, Hatake-san. If you want to argue, go talk to Daddy. I have to go feed the horses."

There was no raising of voices, no shouting of words, but in the end, the head hung was hers. She put on her hat, left the bill and the cash on the table, and started out towards the barn in her nice navy dress. Kakashi, on the other hand, headed out the opposite way, towards the Hokage's office, where he knew Koriama would be getting his reports of the crops.

Kaiya wasn't at all happy about Kakashi's speaking to her in that manner. He didn't have any clue about what happened…he didn't know why her Daddy had become so protective. He had no right! She stomped her way to the barn, her heels eventually hitting soft dirt and sinking in with the force of her foot.

She came to the front gate of the barn and stopped. Leave the bad feelings at the gate; it's what she'd always been taught. She breathed and counted to ten before walking easily into the gate and meeting Chipper Doc in the stall, his big head sticking out over the door.

"Hey, Pretty boy."

Her horse whinnied in pleasure at her arrival, and at the knowledge that she would bring food. She threw some hay in the stall and some feed in his bucket, just as she did with the other horses down the rows of the barn. Her daddy's gray horse kicked at the stall door, impatient for his feed. She went through them all, one by one, watching each horse intently to find its temperament. She rubbed her hand against the black horse's head, and it's red eyes closed in approval. All of the horses seemed of good temperament, and to match their owners as well. Starting tomorrow, those Jounins would get quite the wakeup call…and that included Kakashi.

She sat back on a stack of hay bales opposite the tack room and watched the horses eat; she needed a few minutes to calm down before doing anything else.

…Gee, thanks Kakashi, ruined my one day off…

The same big red head lifted over the stall door again, looking at her and whinnying. She walked over to his stall and rubbed his head. He nuzzled against her shoulder. He knew she was upset; horses could tell that type of thing better than any breed of people.

She took a breath and rubbed the horse's head again. His ears perked up in pleasure, telling her to be happy.

"Would you go back into the ninja business with me, boy? If we could?"

The horse nodded his head high and neighed, before placing it down against her shoulder once more.

"I would go back…wouldn't I? If I could?"

She looked to the horse for an answer; he pushed her a step back with his muzzle and gave a low neigh. He knew that they, as partners, had been through more than most ninja in their lifetimes. But that one time was enough to throw themselves out of ninja life for good, both of them.

  

She got home at six, well before dark, and just in time to wash up for dinner. She keyed the lock, and as the door opened she could smell the food that Daddy had prepared for them. She stepped inside and was greeted with the wonderful food, and a not so wonderful dinner guest.

"Kaiya, Kakashi's come to have dinner with us tonight. You're plate is ready and waiting."

She hid her look of anger, sadness, and shame, as she sat down at the table with what she knew would be a long, drawn out, and uncomfortable conversation at the dinner table.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

_**Chapter Three! I'm staying on my role for as long as I can. Blah blah blah, Naruto is not mine but everything else is so LEAVE IT ALONE! Enjoy the story.**_

CHAPTER THREE

She took her seat at the end of the table, Kakashi on her left, and her Daddy on the right. She sat, looking down at the wonderfully delicious food she had before her. She picked up her chopsticks and began eating slowly, with her head tilted towards her plate. The conversation started out easily enough, becoming reacquainted with one another, while Kaiya remained silent, eating what she could muster at one time. The droning on was killing her, more so than the actual fight would. A few more minutes passed, before Kakashi finally released the ever-burning question that seemed like acid in the back of his throat.

"Koriama, why is it that Kaiya retired from ninja work?"

Koriama gave his daughter a concerned glance before turning his attention back onto Kakashi.

"Because I don't like her out there. She's had one too many close calls."

Kakashi's one visible eye widened, "Koriama, she's the best and brightest student since Itachi himself! Why in the world would you keep her from the ninja world, especially considering she's a Jounin!"

"I said it before, she's had one too many close calls, and I don't want to lose my daughter. Nobody's going to change my mind, Kakashi, you or anyone else."

"But, Koriama, she's-"

"She is nothing other than my daughter and I'll do with her what I will! She will no longer be a ninja as long as I'm here to do something about it!"

"What close call did she have to make you force her out of being a ninja?"

Kaiya, still sitting at the table, head down, stayed silent, as Kakashi's glare focused on her for a moment, just as she knew her father's was.

"Kaiya, go to your room for a while," Koriama said firmly.

She stood, head still down, and walked to her room. The door clicked twice- once open, and once closed. The creaking of her bed told them she was away.

Usually she might've sat by the door, listening to their secretive conversation, but not tonight. She knew what they were saying; she'd heard it all before. It was disgraceful. That one night, on that one mission, that one campsite, and that one move that wasn't quite fast enough to get away. She had been hurt really badly, but had it not been for that big red horse of hers, she would've been dead.

Her room was dark, and it made her uncomfortable. It had been about two years since that night, and it still scared her. She lay still on the bed, silent, watching the one window in the room, looking at the moon that hung high above her and shone on the ground below. Her eyes seemed frozen downcast and sad. She knew what was coming; soon it would be spread all around Konoha. They would all soon know why she wasn't a ninja. And it's all because of Kakashi., because her sensei when she was so young would now know her secret.

When she was five, her black hair pulled into a high ponytail, and bangs edging out at her eyebrows, wearing a white kimono with a little pink and purple dragonfly necklace, she was Kakashi's student. He was a young Jounin, and angrier than he had been with Team 7. He hadn't had much of a choice in whether or not he would train her; the Hokage had given him his orders, and he was to train her. She was so small, so thin, though, that at first glance he never thought she would become the ninja that she did. She was thin and tall, lanky with what seemed like very little muscle. She was just another little kid that should've been playing on the playground.

The first day he was to meet her at the training grounds, he found her crying underneath the tree where they were too meet.

"Get up. It's time to get to work," he said angrily.

"Where have you been, Kakashi-sensei?" she sniffled. "You're two hours late!"

"You can't tell time. Just get up." He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up. She screamed, _loud._

Iruka just happened to walk by at the moment that she screamed, and he walked into the training grounds to the sight of Kakashi keeping a tight hold on this little girl's arm, while she's writhing in pain and anger. He let her go and she hit the ground. She was crying, and looked up at him, hurt.

He threw a sword down at her feet and said in the same demanding, angry tone, "Take that sword and carve that training log."

He pointed at a training log that was twice her height and width.

She sniffled, wiped her eyes, and grabbed the sword. Iruka stood back behind the trees and watched in amazement as this little girl took up the sword that was half her height and started at the log with no complaint. She grunted as she swung her arms; she had the willpower and the skill to do what she needed to with that sword. He watched her for a long time, while Kakashi was shoulder deep into his hentai book. That little girl tried so hard, he saw it. She kept going into the darkness of the night, even after Kakashi had fallen asleep and Iruka had gone. Her hands were bleeding and blistered and her legs were sore, but she didn't stop or complain until she was finished.

At one in the morning, she shyly awoke her teacher from his post, sleeping against the tree. He didn't wake up happy.

"What?"

"I'm finished, Kakashi-sensei."

Her hands were dripping blood onto her kimono, but by then she didn't even notice. She dropped the sword at his feet, panting, sweating and tired, and he looked over the training log. Of course, now, it wasn't a training log at all. She had transformed it into a wolf, it's head high in the sky, baying at the moon. The log was smooth and slick, not a splinter out of place.

"Hn, Good enough. We'll work again in the morning, six a.m. Be ready. You're dismissed."

Kakashi started to walk off, turning away from the little girl.

"Kakashi-sensei…" she called quietly.

"What?" he said harshly.

"I-I can't walk home by myself. Daddy says not to."

Kakashi sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be in good humors if he left her out here alone.

"Ugh, alright, I'll take you home."

He started walking towards her house, and she ran a few steps to catch up to him. She grabbed his hand and walked beside him. He could feel the blood dripping from her palm and down her fingers. But she never said a word about it. He stopped. She took a step and stopped at the feeling of having her arm taut.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out two bandages and some medical tape.

"Hold out your hands, Kaiya."

She did as she was told, and he quickly wrapped her hands in bandages, followed by medical tape. She cringed, but again, didn't complain. Which made him think that he must've really hurt her when he had grabbed her arm earlier that day. He put the tape and bandages back in his pocket and reached for her hand again. Her hand was enveloped in his as they walked down the street in the dark, and up to her house. In the light of her porch he was able to see the blood on her white kimono.

He felt bad, seeing this pretty little girl so hurt and tired, but not complaining. Then he knew why he was put with her, she would be the next Itachi, only hopefully stay with the villages. She was originally from the Mist, and everyone knew it, but she held none of their bloodthirstiness and all of their drive. It was a good combination. At the porch was the most dramatic of his revelations. She smiled. Her hands were torn to pieces, blood dripping to her dress, sweating and tired, and she smiled. He opened the door for her and she walked inside.

Before the door shut, she turned around. "Goodnight, Kakashi-sensei. See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Kaiya," Kakashi said, sitting at the side of her bed, as she was still in the same position on her bed, her eyes still downcast. She wouldn't move. He ran his fingers through her long black hair and remembered the first time they'd met. She was a hard worker, stubborn, and strong. How could something like that happen to her? It felt like someone had taken away the little innocent girl he'd trained so hard and left this shell of a beautiful young lady with him.

How could someone have raped this girl? How could they have taken away this _child's _innocence? She was too young for that! This beautiful young lady, that pretty little child he'd worked so hard with…they just couldn't do that!

"I'm sorry, Kaiya."

He rubbed her arm slowly, feeling the tenseness throughout her body and trying to sooth her.

"Kakashi-sensei…"

She used the name she'd called him when she was five, and for a moment, he knew that the little girl he had known before was still in there somewhere.

"Shhh…it's time for sleep, Kaiya. Go to sleep."

He moved his hand back to her hair and she relaxed a little more.

"Do you know who Sasuke is? The one that stays around here?"

Kakashi's eyes widened, "Yes, I know him. Why?"

"He caught my hat this morning when it flew off. He seemed nice enough, maybe a little cocky though."

She yawned, relaxing a little more. "Wish I had gotten his last name though."

Kakashi just stayed silent, watching the girl slowly fall asleep with someone now in the room with her. She didn't know, however, that Sasuke's last name was Uchiha, and the same last name belonged to her rapist. And as one Uchiha left a rose at her doorstep that night, the other was watching her from her window, waiting.

**R&R! **

ShelbyCole 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 You Guys

Chapter 4 You Guys!! Be proud; I haven't written this much in a long time, and the school year has started for me and I've written three chapters in two days. Naruto does not belong to me but the plotline/story/Original characters are! So keep 'em off your stories or I'll get my dinosaurs to eat you!! On with the story!

CHAPTER FOUR

When she woke up that morning, she knew Kakashi was gone. She also knew she had to work today with the horses and Jounins. She had gotten up just at daybreak, wanting to warm up the horses before the Jounins arrived at noon. She pulled on a white kimono, knowing she would stain it, but not caring, and pulled her butterfly necklace over it. She pulled on her ninja sandals, (yes, she still wore those) and headed for the barn with an apple in her hand. She took one step out the door and saw the one pink rose with a note underneath it. "It's just a game." She smiled and pulled her hair into a ponytail, lacing the rose through it. She ran to the barn, giving her long legs a warm up of their own and feeling good about being able to run and not worry about anything. She was in a surprisingly good mood, all considering. She saw the training grounds and kept running. The blurs of Hinata, Kiba, Shino, and their sensei watching her run by.

She ran to the barn in record time, and took out her horse. She put on his rope halter and led him out to the round pen, making him lunge. He started in a trot, making circles around his rider. After a few minutes, she worked him up into a lope and a run, getting him good and warm. Once they were done, she saddled him up and tied him to a post inside the barn. She went through that with all the horses, seeing which would give her problems and which would fall into line. After they were all saddled, she got onto each one in the round pen one by one, feeling their gates, and watching their movements, strengths, and weaknesses. She got finished just as a few of the first Jounin arrived. The first were the lady with the long black hair and red eyes, a bigger guy with a cigarette, and one that looked like a big version of the booger in a blender she had met with Kiba on her first day back in the village.

"Ok," Kaiya said from atop her big red horse, "I need your names."

"Kurenai Yuhi."

"Asuma Sarutobi"

"Might Gai."

"Alright," Kaiya said, grabbing a clipboard from a nail on the outside of the barn. She crossed off their names, put the clipboard back, and got off of her horse. She crossed back to all of them, who were looking wearily at the horses.

"As you all probably know by now, I'm Kaiya Kaniwa. I'll be teaching you and your horses how to work as a ninja team. The first day I was here, I saw all of you, and I immediately connected you to a horse here in the barn. Can you find your own horses?"

They looked at each other in bewilderment, "Oh, and Asuma-san, put out that cigarette please. I don't need a fire in the barn."

He dropped the cigarette on the ground and stomped on it. Kaiya rolled her eyes. They walked into the barn slowly, looking at each of the horses, studying them. Kurenai's horse was the easiest by far. She found the black mare with red eyes and stood beside it, petting it wearily, wondering what to do next. Asuma eventually found the blue roan horse that was to be his and stood beside it. Gai looked around, confused, and Kaiya had to guide him to the little sorrel horse with the goofy look on its face.

"Ok, I'm only going to work you for a few hours, and it's best that we work now, so we don't have to wait on the others and you can continue on with your day. As you can see, I've already saddled and warmed up your horses. After I'm confident in these horses, that will change. Soon, you will all be saddling, unsaddling, warming up, riding, and performing on these horses."

Asuma spoke up cautiously, "How are horses going to help us be better ninja?"

At this, Kaiya found great enjoyment, "You want to see?"

They all nodded. Kaiya clicked her tongue and her horse followed her out of the barn and into the round pen.

"Asuma, come in here with me. You're going to be my guinea pig."

He walked in slowly, unsure of what would happen to him if he got too close. Kaiya jumped onto the horse's back.

"Now, try to come closer to me. Try to run at me, attack me."

He gave a confused look, but did as he was told, running at her full speed trying to catch her. Of course, the horse evaded him every time. Then he thought ahead, an aerial attack. He jumped in the air, trying to get her, the horse reared up, she did a back flip off of him and the horse grabbed him by the pant leg and drug him down to earth. He did it gently, so as only Asuma's pride was damaged, but there could have been much more to it had that horse really wanted to hurt him.

"Any questions?"

"You've been working with that horse for years. How do you expect us to be able to do that?" Kurenai said.

"Easy. I expect you to come work when you don't have to. You have to build an actual bond with the horse, and that takes more than just the few hours of training that I give you. You'll have to go through all of being the owner of a horse; feeding them, mucking stalls, riding, training, and bonding with them. If you don't have a bond with a horse, they will not protect you. Horses are prey animals; they're actually going against their own nature to protect us as ninja. They'll leave you to die if you don't have a strong bond. You don't have to know how to do everything that I do; ha, half the stuff I do is just made up on the spot. As long as you know the basics and have a good bond, your horse will protect you and you can manage any situation."

"I see! So you must have an amazingly strong bond with your horse then!" Gai said, giving the thumbs up and stupid smile.

"That's right, Gai. And that's our first lesson, creating a bond. For the first few days, we'll be doing a lot of groundwork. And here's your first lesson. My horse can read what I want him to do without me saying a word to him. I'll bet you, right now, he would let Asuma on his back, but not Gai. Just because that's what I want him to do."

They all gave somewhat unimpressed looks, "prove it."

"Gai, try to get on."

Kai tensed her wrist as she held the reins for a split second before Gai came up to the horse as though he knew what he was doing. The horse moved his back end to keep parallel with his rider. Kaiya let go of his reins and let them stay loosely on his neck as he sidestepped, backed up, and skirted sideways, never letting the booger like man anywhere within three feet of his stirrups. After about ten minutes, Kaiya clicked her tongue again, and the horse trotted happily to her side, where she took the reins again. Gai sighed, defeated by a horse.

"Asuma, now you try."

Kaiya's wrist and hands stayed easy and relaxed, and as she let go of the reins, Asuma stuck his foot into the stirrup and hopped on within a few seconds. Gai looked bewildered, dumbfounded, and embarrassed, while Asuma looked accomplished atop the bulky red animal. At the sound of Asuma's cocky chuckle at Gai's stunned look, Chipper Doc's ears went back and he gave an unhappy snort.

"Easy, Boy. Now, pay attention to this, all of you."

Kaiya pointed to the horse's ears, which were poised towards the back of him and held flat to his head.

"When a horse's ears are back in that manner, they're angry. For instance, Chipper Doc can already tell that Asuma is getting to comfortable too quickly in his saddle. He's not used to that, and doesn't like it. If I weren't standing here right now, telling him to cool it, he could and would buck you. You have to respect the animal underneath you; from the start, you're in control, but that's no reason to get cocky. You have to have a mutual bond with these animals so that they respect you and you do the same. Otherwise you're going to hit the ground running and fall on your butt."

She gave a kissing noise and Chipper Doc's ears perked up. Coming around him, she came up next to Asuma's leg, petted the horse's neck, and pointed to his ears again, which were up and facing ahead.

"This, on the other hand, means that the horse is comfortable and confident. Because I'm the one that has my hand on him, he feels comfortable even though Asuma is the one sitting on him, because he and I have a bond, and he trusts my judgement in the ones that ride him."

Once she began to talk, Chipper Doc's ears turned facing back, but still perked up.

"This isn't the same as being mad," she said, pointed at his ears once again. "You see here, his ears aren't flat against his head; he's listening to our conversation right now. He knows we're talking about him. This doesn't mean he's angry or anything, this just means he's being nosy."

Kaiya started walking to the gate of the round pen, and her horse followed her, Asuma still seated on his back. Asuma grunted unsteadily, and Kaiya giggled a bit. Chipper Doc stopped at her back, and Kaiya said, "Asuma, you can get off now."

He unsteadily half-fell off the horse and fell a few steps backwards once on the ground. They walked out of the round pen, and her horse walked obediently behind her as she came out. Asuma took his place beside Kurenai, very much humbled.

"Now, you see," she directed at the three of them, "the type of bond you'll have to have to do the things I do with a horse. Just getting on and off is a challenge if you don't know what you're doing. Take up your horses and bring them here."

They did as they were told, taking the horses by the bridles they had on and leading them uncertainly back to where Kaiya stood patiently.

"Alright, before we get started; Kurenai, you're horse's name is Star. Asuma, you're horse's name is Aai, and Gai, you're horse's name is Chance. What I want you to do is to make the horses back up. All you have to do is make a "shush" sound, like you're telling a child to be quiet."

She took her horse by the reins and said, "Shh, shh, shh, shh" and he backed up. The others followed suit behind her. Most of the horses were at least seven, which wasn't the best thing for ninja trainees, but they knew the basics backwards and forwards.

"Very good, now take the reins and lead them forward. Make sure they stay behind you and stop when you do."

She gave the example with her horse again, and they followed suit. After showing Gai how to work with his horse, whose head was steadily over his shoulder, she stood still.

"Alright, come inside the barn and unsaddle your horses."

Guiding them step-by-step on what to do, they followed the instructions and all the horses were put in the barn, brushed out, with fresh water and feed.

"You've all done very well for your first day; you're dismissed."

All three of them bowed and poofed off to somewhere that wasn't the barn. Kaiya unsaddled the horses that were left unridden by the Jounins that didn't show up, fed them, and locked the stalls up. Taking Chipper Doc out of the barn, she hopped on his back and took off at a run out in the pasture. Feeling the wind rush through her hair, the high of being out in a straight run gripped her tight and didn't release. It was a straight shot through the pasture, with very little if anything to get in her way. The pounding of hooves and the sharp panting of the horse's thick breath matched his riders sharpening breath through the crisp air, feeling the absolute easiness in matching strides and togetherness in a run. This was the ultimate partnership; no one would ever get closer than these two as a pair.

Just as they were settling into an easy walk-down against the barbed wire fences, Kiba ran through the barn until he met with the gate at the other side of the barn that led to the pasture Kaiya was now walking through.

"Kaiya!" He called.

She kicked up her horse into a lope and ran to the gate, "Yeah?"

"Sakura's having a sleepover at her house tonight. Want to come?"

"Was I invited?"

"Duh!"

"Alright then! Let me unsaddle and I'll head out."

She quickly unsaddled, much more efficiently than the Jounins previously. Leading him into his stall, which had been previously filled with fresh water and feed, he stuck his head into his bucket happily and she locked up his stall. Looking around, she did a double take of the barn to make sure nothing was out of place, and then left with Kiba to go to Sakura's house.

"Can we make a quick stop first?" she asked.

"Sure; to where?"

"The farms where my dad's helping out. He'll want to know where I'm going."

They took off, and as Kaiya's long legs took lead over Kiba's shorter ones, he grabbed her hand once again to keep up. This didn't at all deter her; she didn't see it as anything more than simple friendship. Coming up to the lands where her father had mules plowing up the fields, she called him over.

"Sakura's having a sleepover. Can I go?"

He gave her a tensed look for a moment, "You're friends will be there?"

She nodded excitedly, for a moment holding Kiba's hand tighter without realizing that his hand was even still holding hers. Her father gave a short nod and told her to keep careful.

"Thank you Daddy!" she said, jumping up and down before turning to Kiba and asking where Sakura's house was.

This time it was his turn to lead her, and with her hand still enveloped in his, they ran off into the village. After a few minutes, they reached a decent sized house and Kiba knocked on the door. Kaiya finally let go of his hand, just as a girl with pink hair opened the door with another girl with long blonde hair beside her. Kiba walked in easily, introducing her to Sakura and Ino, who gave her death glares as she entered. Feeling a little tense, she looked around the room, hoping to find someone she knew. She stuck close to Kiba, before finding Hinata and Shino in the back of the room, and Sasuke in the front, giving her a smirk. She smiled at him, feeling at the top of her ponytail the pink rose, still in place. Sakura, Ino, and several other girls were staring in awe at the boy, and, seeing his glance at Kaiya, giving her a death glare of their own. They knew she was the one Sasuke kissed, and they were _not_ happy. Nonetheless, she took a spot by Kiba on the floor opposite Sasuke and began to talk with whoever decided they wanted to make conversation. They were mostly guys, and she felt special in the fact that all of them seemed so interested in her.

"SEVEN MINUTES IN HEAVEN!!" Sakura yelled, grabbing a glass bottle and setting it in the middle of the room. Everyone gathered around it and waited in anticipation of what would happen.

"Who's going to spin first?" Sakura asked.

All the guys yelled Kaiya's name, hoping to end up in the dark closet with her. She blushed a little, and as the other girls glared, she giggled, "Ok, I'll go."

She spun the bottle and giggled again as it spun, knowing someone was going in that closet with her. She watched it in nervous excitement as it slowed….slower….slower….slower….as it came to a stop. She looked up to find that, of course, she would be in the closet with Sasuke. He gave a smirk at her, as she gave a small blush at him, and they both stood up and headed for the closet. They both came in to the small dark space, and the one source of light quickly vanished from their eyes as the door was slammed and they were left alone in the closet. There was no caution as Sasuke came into her personal space. The feeling of closeness between the two of them made her blush hotly, but Sasuke couldn't see it.

She could feel his hot breath against her neck as he made his way up to her face, before kissing her deeply, though gently, and she melted into him easily. Thinking nothing more of it than just a game, she let him do as he would, giving him entrance into her mouth as he backed her up against the wall. His hands tangled themselves in her hair, pulling her ponytail, and the rose wrapped into it, out, so as she was left with a cascade of her black hair down her back and a boy at her mouth.

_She's a __**really**__ good kisser…_ Sasuke thought, grazing one hand across her cheek, while the other was still firmly around her waist.

Just before the door was opened, Sasuke locked eyes with her for a good few seconds before going in for one last, gentle kiss. And as the door opened, Sasuke came out with a smirk on his face, and Kaiya sat back down next to Kiba and acted as though nothing happened. But as the game continued, Sasuke glanced more than once at the girl, while she was looking towards the game. He knew even more than before; she wasn't the same as the other girls, and he wanted her. But she was too enraptured in the game.

**Bao Chicka Wah Wah! Chapter 4 is done!**

**R&R Lovelies!**

**ShelbyCole**


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5 is on the line! I know I've been absolutely everywhere but here, but I'm working on changing that. I haven't had a computer at all for a while now, and we got one at my mom's house for Christmas. So I'll do my best to write this stuff now. But, again, I've not been watching Naruto either, so this may be a bit OOC. But I have (hopefully) come back with an improved writing skill. Anyways, you guys know the drill, the characters and such are not mine, but the storyline is. Thanks!_

**Chapter 5**

The eyes that peered into the living room of Sakura Haruno's home that night seemed to pierce the room and everything in it, without so much as making the visitors inside aware of their presence. Those red eyes were clear as the crescent moon that was hung in the sky that night- And as silent. He was as still as the house on which he peered in, all except for the few moments when the wind blew ever so slightly and moved his black hair from around him. No one noticed. The children, Chuunin, were far too young to even sense the presence of an outsider when so enraptured in gossip, games, and the romantic ideas of the passing evening. However, the red-eyed man could easily see-that there was also a Jounin among them. And though she knew not why, she felt a disturbing presence coming from the window where he perched and chose to wait, though she was not brave enough to leave the game and investigate it herself.

He saw that she was looking towards the window every few seconds from the corner of her dark, glistening eyes. But as soon as she did, one person or another would tear her attention from it, pulling her into a game or a conversation. That is why he worried not about her seeing him, or anyone seeing him. So he waited. And as the night went on, he could see people pairing off to talk, curling up beside one another on sleeping bags or cramming on the small couch that the Haruno family had. Kiba had held Kaiya Kaniwa's attention for quite a while, and it was obvious that Sasuke was envious of the fact. But she was clearly tenser than she had been, this red-eyed man was sure as he watched her shoulders tense and relax before anyone could notice that she'd tensed up at all. She laughed at something Kiba said. His dog barked disapproval of something said by the lazy one, Shikamaru Nara. The shy, purple-haired girl blushed and whispered something to her, which caused her to smile and whisper something in return. Sasuke scowled.

_Be patient brother. You can't have everything you want whenever you like. She was mine first, and she'll be mine again, before you can have her,_ Itachi Uchiha thought.

Itachi was a very patient soul; he could stand completely still throughout the entire night, simply watching her to see her movements. The roll of the arm as she playfully threw a pillow at a "grumpy" Sasuke, the easy, swaying motion of her hips as she walked over and gave him a hug to cheer him up after her attempted pillow fight had only made him angrier. He watched the way her lips moved as she spoke, and the sound of her laugh, which seemed so innocently pure that it disguised completely the things she had been through in her short time as a ninja. He remembered. He remembered the sword she carried on her left hip, a crooked carrier holding it in place that accentuated her features. He remembered those eyes, those dark, brown, shiny eyes that could not hide her fear, though she refused to scream and show it physically. He remembered her arms and legs, so small, lean, but strong, powerful, beautiful as she fought to get away from his grasp. He remembered her lips, full, dark pink, lips that parted slightly at one point, as her breath caught in her throat. She would NOT scream, but she wanted to do so with all the power in her being. There was no point in screaming that night. She had no team that he'd known of at the time, and he'd been watching for quite a while. She had let the horse out to graze on its own, and he wondered if it would come back, sensing that the girl was in danger.

He didn't even hear it coming from behind him. He had her pinned to the ground, just finishing what he had started, when he felt the deep, metallic pain straight between his shoulder blades. The impact of the horseshoe in his back made him fall over her again and she gasped, but felt a newly acquired sense of power in the presence of the large red creature that had caused him minimal damage. She managed in the split second to react, pushing a kunai into his stomach and twisting it as she pushed him to the ground. She took a sword from the carrier on her horse's breast collar and drove it straight through him and deep into the ground. The horse reared and pushed it in that much further, before carefully placing his hooves, one by one, over the hands of Itachi Uchiha, breaking each small, fragile bone in its wake. The horse made it painful. He made it slow. He made it intentional. He made it personal. She did not wait for him to scream, or even attempt to escape the sword's hold on his intestines, before jumping onto the back of the fierce red roan and riding away at top speed. He could tell she was broken-the blood on the back of her kimono had said it all.

She hadn't tried to kill him, just to give herself time to get away. That's all she wanted at that moment. She hadn't thought about him coming back to get her all over again, until later he was sure. But now, as he watched her bed herself down in her sleeping bag between Kiba and Sasuke, he was overly aware that she could feel his presence. It was almost as though, he assumed, his mere presence held an air over her. She would be the one to know. Every ounce of that night had been etched into her memory in explicit detail. He was sure that she'd know the scent of his blood, his cloak, his hair, his breath, HIM. But at that moment, she lay in the sleeping bag, finding it difficult to lie in the right position for too long because both Kiba and Sasuke were moving in on her, trying to get closer. This made her uncomfortable in the sense that she knew she'd have to sort it out later, but better because whatever monster was outside the window peering in on them would have more than simply her to deal with.

At that time, he left the window, so quickly as to let no one assume that anything had been there before. He faded into the night, into the wind, the streets, the cold, yellow moon, and when he did, she closed her eyes and fell asleep soundly. He walked slowly, purposefully, over to the stables where he knew her horse would be kept. It was quiet in the barn, all except for the dull pat of hooves across the bedded stall floors. As he came in, most of the horses didn't bother to move, to look up, or to stand from their positions on the ground. But that one, the one next to the black one, he would be noisy. Itachi stopped at her horse's stall, waiting for it to realize who was in the barn. He didn't know that he had known for a while now. ChipperDoc's breath was deep, ragged as though he'd been running circles all night, his back and neck heavy with sweat. His ears were pulled back, flat against his head. He stomped the padded ground, as though threatening to jump over the door of his stall if the man made one step in the wrong direction. He gave a low neigh to his grey companion across from him. Smoke's ears perked up to listen, then laid back against his head the same way ChipperDoc's had. If they gave one cry any louder than that, they would have the whole barn stirring. But they made no move to do so. The eyes of the red horse might as well had been on fire; the look inside them told Itachi of exactly what had been done, all the pain he had caused it's rider, all the suffering she had gone through regaining what little she could find of herself after that, the strength it took to keep her going on to help other people, and thus having to tell them what had been done.

It told Itachi Uchiha that, yes, that horse would give its life to save her, even if she wasn't aware her life was in danger. It told him that the horse had been watching him all night, just as he had been watching its rider. If she could sense him, then she would have known instantly, would she have not? But, if she had sensed her horse, their obvious bond easily distinguishable, then she would only know that he wasn't in his stall. Which meant something wasn't quite right, but until given warning, she didn't know quite what it was that wasn't right. But he knew that by morning, she would know what had been done. She would know everything that had been thought, said, seen, heard, EVERYTHING. He smirked, and then tried to reach out and touch the horse. It reared and bit his hand as hard as it could, before releasing the bloody fingers from his mouth. Itachi flicked his hand to his side, splattering a bit of blood across the barn floor, before walking out into the night and disappearing. And as he did, he heard the clacking of hooves across the road, moving as fast as he could to the house of Sakura Haruno.

That horse would stand at the window all night, in exactly the same spot where the red-eyed man had been peering through the window, and a mere few feet away from where he had watched the man watching, where he had been standing tense,ready to attack if the need arose. And the horse would leave at daybreak, before the humans awoke, and go back into his stall to wait for her, after he was sure to stomp away all the traces of blood he could. He wouldn't tell her of her night's dangers, not yet. The horse had its ways of communicating, and he knew just who needed to be spoken to.

* * * *

The next morning, Kaiya awoke to Sasuke curled around her back, his arms entwined around her waist, and Kiba at her front, his forehead resting against hers, sleeping soundly, while Akamaru laid on the bottom of her sleeping bag. She carefully unlaced herself from both of them without waking either, and went to the bathroom to change clothing. Her mind was not as easy or pleased as it had been at the beginning of the party last night. She knew something must've gone wrong. She knew ChipperDoc had been close to her, too close. She brushed out her hair, sliding it into a loose ponytail, and pulled on a hot pink kimono, the flower on it a dark black, with black shorts, and put on her ninja sandals. She went through her hastened routine of getting ready for work, and walked quietly down the stairs. Kiba was leaning on his elbows, his hair sticking in all directions, when she caught his eye.

She whispered, "Got to head out for work. I'll see you guys later. Tell Sakura thanks for inviting me, and sorry I couldn't stay to hang out a little while." Kiba pouted a little, but nodded and lay back down on his sleeping bag. She rolled hers up and put it in its bag before heading to the barn. She stopped at the doorway and looked at the ground. Hoof prints were splayed across the dirt; two very distinguished pairs of prints had been underneath the window on the side of the house. This made her nervous. She looked at them closely. The markings were obviously horses, but there was something strange about this pair-they had ridges across them in the dirt. No other place in the Haruno yard had any ridges like these, except for the ones underneath the two hoof prints. She thought for a moment, and then looked at the bottom of her ninja sandals. She took off running for the barn as fast as she could, her face pale, and her eyes wide.

It was still early, most people were just beginning to open up shop for the day, as she ran through the stillness of the morning. She, unlike the blonde boy named Naruto at the party last night, would not break the silence of morning by screaming good morning to the business owners or waiting impatiently for the Ichiraku Ramen Bar to open up shop. The force of her body cut through the morning breeze like a knife, & as she reached the barn, her motions became more haphazard and less graceful. By the time she got to ChipperDoc's stall, she was breathless & clinging to the door for dear life. She looked at ChipperDoc with the eyes of a trapped animal. He leaned his head over the stall door and nudged her shoulder with his nose. She clung to a tuft of his mane and whispered, "Who was out there last night?"

He gently took his big head and nudged her in the forehead.

"If not me, who do you want to tell?" He took his huge head and motioned towards the entrance to the barn. She opened the stall door and let him out. He turned his head to look at her and perked his ears in her direction. She leaped onto his back and they took off to wherever ChipperDoc led them. But the horse knew exactly where to go. He headed straight for the bookstore, and as they approached, it dawned on her exactly who the horse was aiming to talk to. She peered through the glass, and easily found the huge mound of silver spiked hair walking leisurely through the aisles.


End file.
